Musk 'restarting' California Tesla factory, defying authorities
13 May, 2020
Tesla chief Elon Musk said Monday he's resuming production at the company's California auto assembly plant, defying authorities and escalating a feud over the Pacific state's pandemic shutdown.
Musk made the announcement on Twitter after several days of raging online and a lawsuit wanting to resume businesses at the factory.
"Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules," Musk said in a tweet.
"I will be on the line with everybody else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."
Musk said, occasions later, that state officials had approved the reopening but that the move have been blocked by local authorities.
"California approved, but an unelected county official illegally overrode," he said. "Also, all other auto companies in US are approved to resume. Only Tesla has been singled out. This is super smudged!"
Musk's move comes amid rising disputes over the pace of easing the lockdowns imposed by states to support the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Over the weekend, Musk threatened to move Tesla's headquarters and factory out of California therefore of the standoff.
"Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately," Musk tweeted as part of a number of angry messages right before the business filed the lawsuit wanting to force authorities to allow a reopening.
Following Musk's statement, Alameda County's office of emergency services said Tesla was only permitted to maintain "minimum basic operations" until officials approve an idea and that it expected a proposal to be submitted by the business later in the day.
"We are addressing using the same phased approach used for other businesses that have violated the [shutdown] order in the past, and we hope that Tesla will likewise comply without further enforcement measures," the county statement said.
Wooed by Texas
On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin voiced support for Tesla's effort to reopen its factory and a Texas county said it could welcome the firm.
"I trust Elon Musk," Mnuchin, the very best US monetary official, told CNBC television.
"He's one of the primary employers and manufacturers in California, and California should prioritize doing whatever they need to do to solve those health issues in order that he can open quickly and safely."
THE UNITED STATES administration is pushing a reopening of the world's greatest economy, battered by weeks of lockdown, even while the daily death toll has generally been rising by 1,000 to 2,500 in recent weeks.
In Texas, one local official wasted little time in trying to woo the fast-growing car firm.
Hidalgo County said Musk is a lot more than welcome in the state, tweeting a letter from senior local official Richard Cortez.
"We no longer have a shelter-at-home mandate." Cortez said in his letter. "All that's necessary is for you to pick a location."
The state noted that Musk has already been familiar with South Texas just because a launch facility of his other company, SpaceX, is nearby.
Musk has been raging on Twitter for days about his unsuccessful efforts to restart production, claiming the ban violates "our Constitutional freedoms & just plain good sense!"
In late April, he delivered an expletive-laden diatribe during an earnings update contact which he dubbed coronavirus restrictions "fascist."
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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